Judicial appointments and nominations

FILE - In this March 26, 2019, file photo, actor Jussie Smollett smiles and waves to supporters before leaving Cook County Court after his charges were dropped in Chicago. An Illinois judge seems close to appointing a special prosecutor to look into why state prosecutors abruptly dropped charges against Smollett accusing him of staging a racist, anti-gay attack against himself. A hearing Friday, Aug. 23 will be one of the first opportunities for Judge Michael Toomin to name someone since his surprise ruling in June that a special prosecutor was warranted. Among the options available to a special prosecutor would be to restore charges against Smollett. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois judge seems close to appointing a special prosecutor to look into why state prosecutors abruptly dropped charges against actor Jussie Smollett accusing him of staging a racist, anti-gay attack against himself. A hearing Friday will be one of the first opportunities for...

FILE--In this Nov. 2, 2018, file photo, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., speaks during a Nebraska Republican Party Get Out The Vote rally tour stop in Omaha, Neb. Sasse will surround himself with many of the state's top Republicans on for a likely announcement that he'll seek a second term, despite angering some party activists with his repeated criticism of President Donald Trump. Sasse was set to appear in Omaha for a "special announcement" Monday evening alongside fellow Republican office-holders, including Gov. Pete Ricketts and members of Nebraska's all-Republican congressional delegation. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska kicked off his re-election campaign Monday surrounded by top Republicans who vouched for the first-term lawmaker, despite a primary challenge from an activist who is attacking Sasse's frequent criticism of President Donald Trump. Sasse promised in...

Pedro Pierluisi, sworn in as Puerto Rico's governor, smiles during a press conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. Departing Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello resigned as promised on Friday and swore in Pierluisi, a veteran politician as his replacement, a move certain to throw the U.S. territory into a period of political chaos that will be fought out in court. (AP Photo/Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's Supreme Court on Monday agreed to rule on a lawsuit that the island's Senate filed in a bid to oust a veteran politician recently sworn in as the island's governor. The court gave all parties until Tuesday at noon to file all necessary paperwork, noting...

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., speaks with reporters before he and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., try to bring up the legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. Senate Republicans are facing renewed pressure to pass legislation to protect Mueller, with a handful of GOP senators urging their leadership to hold a vote now that President Donald Trump has pushed out Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said Wednesday that he won't vote to confirm judicial nominees unless GOP leaders hold a vote on legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired. Flake of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware went to the Senate floor...

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, before a ceremonial swearing-in in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (all times local): 7:17 p.m. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in —again — at an event at the White House, but not before President Donald Trump slammed Kavanaugh's opponents for a "campaign of personal...

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — President Donald Trump ignited a crowd at a campaign rally in Mississippi by mocking a woman who has claimed she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh decades ago. The audience laughed as Trump ran through a list of what he described as holes in...

In this Sept. 27, 2018, photo, Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh gives his opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kavanaugh is blaming the Clintons for the sexual misconduct allegations against him. In doing so, the judge is drawing new attention to his time on the Kenneth Starr team investigating Bill Clinton’s sexual misconduct in the 1990s. And he’s shown he can deliver a Trump-like broadside against detractors even if it casts him in a potentially partisan light. (Saul Loeb/Pool Image via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — To some, Brett Kavanaugh is clearing his name. To others, he's veering into conspiracy theory. But in blaming "revenge on behalf of the Clintons" for the sexual misconduct allegations against him, the Supreme Court nominee is drawing new attention to his time on the Kenneth Starr...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Republican allies are using the swirl of sexual misconduct allegations around Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to try to stoke support among men — and counter energized Democratic women. With his Supreme Court nominee under threat from a sexual...

Protestors demonstrate outside a political event hosting U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, in Manchester, N.H., Monday, Oct. 1, 2018. Flake, days after a critical vote in support of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, made his second visit this year to New Hampshire. The visit will once again stoke suggestions that he might run against President Trump in 2020. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are raising new questions about the truthfulness of Brett Kavanaugh's sworn testimony to the Senate, shifting tactics against President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee as they await the results of the FBI's background investigation into sexual misconduct allegations...